Story Time
by kepulver
Summary: G1 -- Back on Cybertron, before the Ark left, Swindle and Vortex hear a folktale or two


**Author's Notes:** Based off a silly idea I had to take the name of the animation company that did the work for the G1 Transformers cartoon (and GI Joe, JEM and most of the other Hasbro toy tie-in shows) into a Cybertronian folk hero. You can see the links after the story for the sources of the two stories that Witness's tales are based on.

**Story Time:**

It was late third shift at Oiler's and all but the most dedicated regulars were left, everyone else gone to duty stations or rest cycles. Witness was sitting in his usual place at the table Pressgang had claimed as her team's territory when Swindle and Vortex walked up to him.

"Hey, Witness, how about a story?" Swindle asked, sliding into one of the empty chairs at the table.

"Yeah!" Vortex stood near his brother, rocking on his feet, his rotors spinning. "Pressgang just dragged Onslaught off for a 'lecture on tactics' an' Brawl's on duty and Blast Off's avoiding us again. We're bored."

"That's certainly a potentially dangerous situation. What sort of story do you want to hear?" Witness reached for his energon cube, taking a small sip. He was fairly certain he knew the answer, but there was a certain formula to these things.

There was a moment of muffled discussion between the two Combaticons. "Sunbow," they chorused, being careful to keep their voices low. "Tell us about Sunbow."

"Are you sure about that? The Sunbow stories are suspect, after all." Witness smiled. "Besides, haven't I already told them all to you?"

"So?" Swindle shrugged, looking defiant. "If they don't want us to hear it, must be something worth listening to it, right? C'mon, tell the one about the riddle."

Vortex shook his head. "No way, tell the one about the Place Where There Are No Graves. _That_ one's a good one!"

"As it goes, both stories go together," Witness said. "I'll tell them both."

"They do?" Swindle frowned. "You sure about that? You've never told them together before."

"Swindle, we're getting two stories out of this, so shut up!" Vortex sighed, looking apologetically to Witness. "I'm sorry, he's stupid sometimes."

Witness chuckled. "Settle down, boys," he said, reaching to put a hand on Swindle's shoulder, before he could swing on Vortex. "You start a fight, Oiler'll toss us all out of here and I can't tell my stories in lockup."

That settled the two of them quickly and in a moment, Witness had two sets of optics watching him with rapt attention.

"Back in the days that Never Happened, before Cybertron was free, Sunbow was owned by a cruel master," Witness began, feeling the cadences of the story well up in him. "A cruel master, but a foolish one. The worst kind of fool, in fact, because this master was a fool who thought he was clever, certainly more clever than his slave."

"One day, Sunbow was traveling with his master when they met another of his master's kind. As Sunbow stood by, the two masters began telling riddles to one another as was the custom of their people. Sunbow's master lost and badly; as he and Sunbow walked off, Sunbow came up with a plan to avoid a beating, since his master was surely going to look for someone to take his frustration out on."

"Sounds like a typical officer," muttered Swindle, after a quick glance to make sure no officers had wandered into Oiler's in the last two breem. Beside him, Vortex snickered and nodded in agreement. Witness chuckled, then fell back into his story.

"'Master,' Sunbow said, 'If I had a riddle that would win your next contest, would you let me free?' Sunbow's master was still fuming about losing the contest so he said that he would and told Sunbow to get to work on that riddle quick as he could."

"That's not how it goes," Swindle said. "Last time you told it, Sunbow got into a riddle contest with his master. He didn't help his master out."

Witness grinned. "Swindle, if anybody should know that the truth is sometimes what you need it to be, it's you," he said. "This is how it happened this time, another time it might be different. All that matters is that Sunbow teaches us how to be clever and slick, right?"

"Yeah," Swindle said, though he didn't look entirely convinced.

"Well," Witness said, sliding back into the story. "Sunbow went home to his master's house and finished all his work as quick as he could so he'd have more time to work on his riddle. He plugged himself into his recharger, which was just a port in the wall because Sunbow's master was cheap as well as stupid. And Sunbow thought and thought and thought and he thought all night and finally, just as the factory whistles were going off to call the people to first shift, he knew the answer."

"The next day, Sunbow's master called for Sunbow, who went to him. 'Do you have my riddle?' his master asked. 'If you do not, I will have you melted for scrap!' 'I have it, Master,' Sunbow said, careful to keep his voice humble, since he knew that soon he would be free. 'This is my riddle: No-legs has it, two-legs wants it; No-legs gives it, two-legs gets it.'"

This time, it was Vortex who interrupted. "How's his master have no legs? Everybody's got legs!"

"It's not a real story, Vortex," Swindle said. "It's from the time that Never Happened. It's a myth, like organic life on Cybertron or choppers having brains. Let him finish!"

Witness nodded, keeping his true thoughts to himself. The elder who'd taught him the Sunbow tales had claimed to have seen the masters, back in the days before the Golden Age. He'd sworn they were hideous perversions, combinations of organic and true, mechanical life; abominations worse than the mutants who prowled the lower levels near Witness's home settlement. Witness wasn't sure if he believed it or not, but he'd seen a lot of strange things deep in Cybertron.

"C'mon, Witness! What's the answer?" Swindle asked. "You changed riddles on us!"

"Yeah, you gonna tell us or what?"

"I was thinking, two smart mechs like you should be able to tell me the answer," Witness said, leaning back to take another drink from his energon cube. The two Combaticons looked at him and then at each other and then back at him, expectantly, Witness sighed inwardly. They iwere/i smart mechs, but they had a tendency to be lazy. Fortunately, they also tended toward vanity.

"Now, I know the two of you are smarter than Sunbow's master was," Witness said. "The answer's right there, surely you can figure it out."

"Freedom?" Vortex said, glancing at Swindle who nodded and shrugged as if trying to cover all his bases, just in case Vortex's guess was wrong.

"Exactly," Witness smiled at them, watching them bask in the full glow of his approval. "Sunbow's master couldn't figure the riddle out though, because he was stupid and he couldn't figure that any slave would want to be free. He fought it though, he tried and tried and guessed and guessed but finally he had to admit that he didn't know the answer."

"'Free me and then I'll tell you,' Sunbow said, because he was not a fool. 'Fine, fine,' said the master, peevish now that he had lost. 'You are free from this day forward, what is the answer?'"

"Because he wasn't a fool, Sunbow made sure he was close to the door before he answered his master. 'Freedom,' he said, ready to run and it was a good thing he was because his master was so angry about being fooled that he called for guards to chase poor Sunbow and take him to the Smelting Pits."

"But Sunbow was fast, faster than the guards who were slow and clumsy and used to slaves who would obey without thinking. They didn't know what to make of a slave who was no longer a slave. Sunbow's freedom made him fast, because he now owned himself and wanted to protect such a valuable commodity as he knew himself to be."

"So Sunbow ran and ran and ran and ran and he had many narrow escapes and twists and turns on his journey because even though he was fast, the guards were determined to catch him and throw him in the Pits. By staying alive, Sunbow was proof that freedom could be taken and as long as he was alive, he was a thief to the Masters."

"But, he didn't steal anything," protested Vortex. "All he did was trick the master and run for it."

"Yeah, like anybody would half a working motherboard would do," Swindle said. "How's that stealing?"

"He'd stolen himself," Witness said. "At least as far as the Masters were concerned. Slaves owned nothing, not even themselves. That's why we fought to free ourselves and why even the Autobots acknowledge that freedom is something any sentient being requires."

As the two mulled that over, Witness continued his story. "Sunbow ran deep into Cybertron, moving down and down, searching for a place where he could hide and be safe. He searched and searched until he'd nearly worn his feet off, but finally he found a place where he could rest."

"It was a small settlement and Sunbow could tell that the people there were runaways and self-stealers like himself. This made him glad, because it meant he was not alone and would have company. And that they'd be less likely to run tattling to the masters since they'd be caught as well."

"Sunbow walked into the settlement, looking for a repair shop since his feet were nearly worn off and he could feel wires starting to poke free. He stopped at the first building he came to, a small hut, and stuck his head inside."

"Sitting inside, he saw a pair of mechs sitting near a pile of scraps. 'Hello,' he said to them. 'I'm looking for a repair shop, is this the place?' The two mechs looked at Sunbow as if they hadn't understood what he'd said. 'Repair shop?' one said. 'No, why would we need such a thing as that?'

"Sunbow took a step back and looked at the mechs in surprise. 'Why, what if someone gets injured? ' he asked. 'What do you do then?'" Witness rocked back in his chair, miming Sunbow's surprise. "'Oh, that's easy!' said the second mech. 'They become food and fuel for us. The masters don't bring us parts or energon down here, so we do what we can. Are you hurt, friend? I see your feet are sparking.'"

"Sunbow thought fast. 'Hurt? No, friend, I'm not hurt. That is simply how I was designed.' But the other mechs didn't believe him. 'You were asking about repairs, I think you are injured and you should abide by our customs. We are hungry and you will not last long here.' Sunbow shook his head. 'No, no,' he said. 'Truly, I am not hurt. If I were hurt, could I jump like this?' And he began to jump up and down, careful to move further and further back with each jump. 'And if I were hurt, could I turn like this?" he asked, spinning himself so that his back was to the others. 'And if I were truly hurt, could I run like this?' And with that, he took off running and didn't stop until he was well away from the place where there were no graves and into another adventure. But that's a story for another time."

Swindle and Vortex sat quietly for a moment, but Witness knew that wouldn't last for long.

"You changed the story again," Swindle said. "But, I like this one a little better -- I mean, it's still kinda implausible, with the masters and all that but y'know, you tell it good."

"Yeah," Vortex said. "But...what happened to him after he ran off? What adventure did he end up at?"

"Thank you., boys," Witness chuckled. . "But that's a story for another night. As it is, I'm due for patrol soon. C'mon, you can walk with me a ways, if you want. You should probably head back to the barracks."

X X X

**Sources:**

.edu/~ -- African American Culture through Oral Tradition

.edu/~ -- The Place Where There Were No Graves


End file.
